Kurds & Alawites - only two sides to support for the good of the world

Submitted by Robert (United States), Apr 11, 2016 at 09:26

The only sides worth supporting these days in Syria are the Nationalist Kurds, and the Nationalist Syrians who are Alawi and who still see support Assad.

I don't believe there are any real so-called "moderate" forces in Syria.
The Sunni in Syria can only form supporters of ISIS, Al-Qada, the Nusra Front, whose roots are outside Syria, probably mostly in Saudi Arabia. Whereas the rest are probably Turkey's Muslim Brethren, Turkish Islamists of the Endogon variety.

The so-called Secularist are insignificant in Muslim circles, either in Iran, or in any Arab-Spring country, just as the Communists failed in Nazi Germany, or the non-Communists in the Vietnam War when the US tried unsuccessfully to find an alternative to the Vietcong.
Egypt had its Brotherhood, but only Obama held out hope for a democratic solution, and so Egypt reverted back to its quasi socialist Nasser militarist past, with the significantly more democratic and populist roots under elected Sisi.

There is no substitution for indigenous roots, and the only natural ones in place in Syria currently are those under the Assad, or alternatively, Kurdish banners. The Alternatives are those currently supported by Erdogan's Islamists of Turkey, or the Saudi supported Wahhabis. For the US to support the secularists moderates is artificial at best, and strategically the weakest and will most likely produce an "American Imperialist" reaction among the Sunnis of Syria.

Unfortunately, Obama has no choice but let things play out in Syria while resisting the external, interventionist, pressures being imposed by Erdogan Turkey and the Saudi regime with it's Gulf state allies.

Of course, the other external forces are those of Ayatollah Iran, and Putin's Russia. But at least they are on the side of the indigenous minority Alawites ruled by Assad; Assad has long shouted "TERRORISM" but it was always taken as the Wolf shouting "Wolf."

As our President Obama observed in Libya, it became a "Shit-Show"; that's not so in Syria because there are so many outside players in it, but also it has two indigenous players who aren't non-violent Islamists or Terrorist, namely the Kurdish people, and the Alawi "Shia" of Syria who drink wine and have such a "heretical" view of their Islamic religion that several Sunni clerics have issued Fatwas against them - no wonder they fear the Sunni majority.

So journalist Pamela Engel is mistaken (below) in her belief that the US has a window of opportunity to side the rise of the elderly, women, and children in the streets (under the "revolutionary flag", who have demonstrated in Tunisia, Egypt, Turkey, but were quickly and easily wiped our by the stronger forces in their midst and culture.

The problem the Obama has, in my view, is that of succumbing to the pressure to unseat Assad without gaining the support of his indigenous Alawite base population; if Assad hasn't fallen yet it can only be because of the support he has inside of Syria by his own substantial minority people who are mostly not Sunni of any kind.

"US is missing a huge opportunity in Syria" - Pamela Engel, Business Insider
http://www.businessinsider.com/al-qaeda-protests-in-idlib-syria-2016-4

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